Share

New council headquarters welcome thousands through its doors in first 100 days

Aberdeen City Council’s Marischal Customer Service Centre has welcomed more than 45,000 visitors after just 100 days of being open for business.

The Centre in the stunning, redeveloped Marischal College opened for business on June 21 this year and has been a new experience for customers, colleagues and stakeholders alike.

After completing its 100th working day today (7 November) there have been approximately 47,000 customer visits to date.

The experience of visiting the Marischal College Customer Service Centre, which will has a staff of 38, marked a radical change from the way in which customer services have been delivered by Aberdeen City Council in the past.

People with queries or issues are greeted by a customer service adviser, who issues them with a ticket and directs them to the appropriate service desk or waiting area.

The introduction of a queuing system, the design of the service desks and the number of interview rooms available have led to service teams and customer service advisers delivering council services in a more joined up and succinct way.

Service Teams from different directorates have worked with each other and with the Customer Services teams to ensure customer enquiries are handled as efficiently as possible. Since opening, teams have refined and adjusted their processes to ensure that a smoother and more seamless service is provided to customers.

Christine Dunn, Customer Service Team Leader, said: “The move has presented a brilliant opportunity for staff development in both knowledge and skills. The sharing of knowledge has helped staff to gel together and work together to improve the services provided which in turn has improved our customer's experiences for the better.”

On average 2,350 customers have been served each week and a further 400 customers and corporate visitors are being served per week by the Customer Service Advisers based at reception.

To date the busiest periods are generally Mondays, Friday afternoon and lunch times. The busiest day to date was Monday 3 October where 672 customers were served. The less busy times are generally before 11am most days and after 4pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Queuing times presented a learning curve for the customer service centre after customers found the first and second weeks that they were waiting in excess of 50 minutes to be seen by an adviser or a service specialist.

By revisiting and streamlining existing processes for key services, resolving IT related issues and reviewing resources, the queue times have continually reduced. The average wait time is now approximately 20 minutes.

Most accessed services, in descending order, are Council Tax and Benefits, Parking and Disabled Badges, Registrars, Payments, Homelessness, Accord Card and Sports, Housing Application advice and Laundry Cards.

The Reception is open to staff and corporate visitors from 8am – 5:30pm. Customer Service Centre is open from 8:30 am – 5 pm.

As well as Customer Service Advisers and Service Specialists being on hand to help resolve customer enquiries there are a range of self service facilities available.

66 views